


Like real people do

by Port_in_a_Storm



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Boys In Love, Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Very light hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 23:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7661209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Port_in_a_Storm/pseuds/Port_in_a_Storm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An amusing argument between Aaron and Robert leads Chas and Diane to consider their sons and how happy they make each other. </p><p>Based on a tumblr prompt</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like real people do

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all (again!). This little fic was based on this lovely prompt: I would like a fic where Robert and Aaron have a stupid yet amusing domestic argument in the pub which Chas and Diane laugh about later- they can't believe their sons are dating and how 'normal' it all is etc. Who'd have thought they'd be just what each other needed to be happy? Diane starts saying how she wishes Jack could have seen Robert like this. How she thinks he would be proud... Little does she know Robert overhears! He is overwhelmed and needs Aaron.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this, nonnie! Happy reading everyone :)

‘Are we really gonna argue about this?’ Robert said, coming into the pub (after holding the door open for his boyfriend).

‘You’re the one arguing, Robert,’ Aaron replied calmly enough, though it sounded like he was just another word or two away from seething.

Chas looked on in concern, her eyes flitting between her son and his boyfriend, wondering if she’d need to referee.

Robert waited until Aaron had sat before taking his own seat, his chivalry still in place even if he was in the middle of an argument. ‘I don’t know why you’re being so damn stubborn about this!’

‘ _I’m_ being stubborn?’ Aaron scoffed. ‘That’s a laugh coming from you!’

‘Everything alright, lads?’ Chas interjected. She motioned around the pub with a nod of her head. The last thing she wanted (and the last thing she knew Aaron wanted) was for them to start a scene in a nearly full pub.

‘Robert just has some very stupid ideas and he wants to drag me into it as well.’

‘How is this stupid?’ Robert said, his voice raising higher and higher.

‘So you’re okay with our bedroom being the colour of cack, are you?’

‘It’s not the colour of cack, it’s terracotta!’

‘Our bedroom will look like an outhouse!’

‘I can’t help it if you’re not sophisticated enough for that kind of decor.’

Aaron suddenly smiled. ‘Did you just say "decor"?’

Robert froze. ‘No.’

‘Yeah you did!’

‘Okay fine I did! Don’t change the subject. We need to-’

‘Just when I thought I couldn’t want you more,’ Aaron said quietly in a tone of wonderment.

Robert grinned and slid off his stool, before stepping closer to a smiling Aaron. 

‘Home?’ Aaron asked.

‘To our soon to be cack coloured bedroom?’ They laughed, Robert took Aaron by the hand and led him out of the pub.

Chas didn’t know whether to laugh or frown. ‘What was that?’ Rodney asked, indicating the door that the men had just walked through.

‘I’ve no idea.’ She shook herself. ‘What can I get you, Rodders?’

****

‘And, what, they just walked off?’ Diane chuckled.

Chas nodded. ‘Yep. Happy as anything. Never seen anything like it!’

Diane shook her head. ‘Who’d have thought, eh? Our sons dating and being domestic!’

‘I’d have laughed in your face if you’d told me four years ago that my Aaron would have a house with your Robert.’

They sat in silence for a bit, the sound of punters in the pub filtering through the closed doors of the back room. They met up often, Diane and Chas. Not only were they friends, but they had come to realise that each others sons could soon be their in-laws. It was something that they talked about often, but which really hit home in moments like this.

Diane’s smile faded a little. ‘Robert could never _settle_ ,’ she said. ‘He was always so restless, wanting to move from place to place--’

‘Bed to bed,’ Chas said, then immediately apologised at Diane’s stern look.

‘He was never satisfied, is what I mean,’ she continued. ‘Never happy. Even Chrissie with all of her money and her family couldn’t keep him happy.’ She reached across and put her hand tenderly on Chas’s. ‘Your Aaron does, though. He makes Robert happier than I’ve seen him in such a long time.’

Chas sniffed and nodded. ‘Aaron’s the same. Well you know how he was as well as I do, when he moved into the pub. And even before that. He was always so angry. I thought there’s never going to be anyone who could calm him, love him the way he’s meant to be loved. And then Jackson. God, that poor lad.’ She cleared her throat. ‘I thought I’d lost my son. And then he was always so _sad_. But seeing him tonight, being so domestic with Robert, and the two of them so happy.’ She barked a laugh. ‘Never thought I’d be grateful for Robert, but here we are!’

‘Jack would’ve been so proud of Robert,’ Diane breathed. ‘I know Robert would say differently if I ever told him that, but I know Jack. And he would have been so happy to see his little boy happy.’ She gasped suddenly and Chas pulled her into her arms.

‘He would,’ Chas murmured. ‘Of course he would.’

Unbeknownst to either woman, Robert had caught the tail end of their conversation. He had ventured into the pub to pick up some clothes which Aaron had left behind in his room when they moved. But when he heard his step mother say what she did...

His breath caught on a sob and he had to bite his lip to stifle it. The tears came then, and he knew he needed Aaron. Moving away from the doorway as quietly as he could, he went home, seeking out comfort from his boyfriend.

Aaron didn’t look up when the door opened. ‘Did you get it then?’ he asked. When no answer came, he glanced up. ‘Robert? What’s wrong?’ He crossed the room in five steps and took his sobbing boyfriend in his arms. ‘What happened, eh?’

Robert clung tight to Aaron, his hands clenching at his hoodie. He took a minute to calm his breathing, and Aaron let him, patient as a saint. ‘I just overheard Diane,’ he whispered. ‘Talking about how Dad would have been proud of me. Of _us_.’

Aaron inhaled sharply. He knew what a huge deal that was for Robert. He had always convinced himself that Jack would never be proud of him, no matter what Robert did. ‘Of course he would,’ he said gently. ‘Robert, your Dad would have been so proud of the man you are now.’

Robert nodded. ‘I’d never allowed myself to believe it until now.’ He cleared his throat and his eyes turned distant. Aaron let him collect his thoughts. ‘I want to see him tomorrow,’ he said decisively. ‘And I want you to be there. I want him to meet you.’

Smiling both nervously and happily, Aaron nodded. ‘Okay. Tomorrow, yeah?’

They went off to bed, and Robert couldn’t help but smile at the thought of cack coloured walls, and how it had got them to this point.

**Author's Note:**

> Come have a nosy on tumblr!: [](http://www.portinastorm.tumblr.com)Port in a Storm
> 
> Title is from 'Like real people do' by Hozier


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